Proctor Aiming for May 1 Return

JUPITER -- Spoke this afternoon with reliever Scott Proctor, who is blaming himself for his latest elbow setback, one that'll cause him to miss not only Opening Day, but most likely the entire first month of the season.

"A lot of it comes down to I should have known better, should have held off," said Proctor, who isn't throwing because of loose scar tissue directly related to elbow surgery last September. "I aggravated it more by trying to do too much, trying to get back. But I've only got one gear, and that's usually a fifth gear. If we've only got five, it's six."

Proctor appeared in only one spring training game for the Marlins before they shut him down. He resumed a long-toss program, but was shut down once more when problems continued. He said he probably won't resume throwing for at least the next 10 days.

"I'm going to miss the first part of the season, but what we're trying to do is cut down the time (it takes to return)," said Proctor, who was projected to be a key member of the bullpen after being acquired as a free agent in December. "May 1 is definitely my target date."